EMF 2014: It Takes an Amateur Radio Village

An Amateur Radio Village and special event station GB2EMF will be among the highlights for hams at the Electromagnetic Field “EMF 2014” event Friday through Sunday, August 29-31, just south of Bletchley in the UK.

“EMF 2014 is a festival for anyone interested in radio, electronics, space, homebrewing, robots, UAVs, 3D printing, DIYBio, Internet culture or pretty much anything else you can think of,” its sponsors proclaim. “It is a volunteer effort by a non-profit group, inspired by European and US hacker camps like Chaos Communication Camp, HAR, and ToorCamp. Imagine a camping festival with a power grid and high-speed Internet access; a temporary village of geeks, crafters, and technology enthusiasts that’s lit up by night, and buzzing with activity during the day.”

Sponsors are anticipating more than 1000 “curious people” to show up for the event to attend forums and workshops as well as take part in the music, games, and installations that dot the site. “Attendees are invited to set up their own villages — camps within the camp — where like-minded people can camp together and put on their own activities.”

The EMF 2014 team will provide power and an Internet connection to visitors’ tents. Special event station GB2EMF will operate from the Amateur Radio Village.

Campers’ identification tags consist of a “fun piece of technology” that attendees can take home and use following the event. “We call our badge TiLDA, and every attendee will receive one when they arrive at the camp!” sponsors said in a blog post. TiLDA is a reprogrammable battery-powered development board that visitors wear on a lanyard. “By default it communicates with all the other badges on site, playing a networked game that encourages you to meet other people with differing interests,” the sponsors explained.

Visit the Electromagnetic Field Facebook page for more information. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service/AMSAT-UK